christian relief fund blog

CRF and Bread are Now One

CRF has valued our great relationship with Bread since the 80’s. Working together in the future is an exciting step and offers the opportunity to do more than ever to minister to children and families in crisis. It just makes sense.

- Linda Purdy, CRF Executive Director

A letter from Milt – CRF President

We go to the same places. We have the same vision. And very often we have the same donors. CRF and Bread are simply going to be better together. We do the same things.

One day Bobby Moore was looking at a magazine and noticed that Christian Relief Fund was on one page and Bread For a Hungry World was on the page right beside it. He asked me, “What’s the difference in us?” I certainly didn’t know of one. So after a few conversations, we decided that we should get together.

I think the ministries and shared interests of CRF and Bread will complement each other. Bread has wanted to expand their personal sponsorships of children for years. And this is what CRF does best. We will be able to develop greater support for all of the children on Bread’s sites. A couple of years ago, CRF realized that to go into the future with further child sponsorship — we were going to have to invest in very expensive software and more staff to manage the process. Bread has just reached the same point. When CRF made this costly investment, we knew that our ability to process children would be much bigger. We prayed that we would be able to help other agencies. I think Bread is the answer to our prayers. And this allows Bread to be able to expand without duplicating the same investments or hiring a lot of new staff.

CRF has dabbled with microfinance but has not been organized with it like Bread. With their resources the future of our microlending will be greatly multiplied.

CRF has more donors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area than anywhere else. Having an additional office there will create greater visibility and a potential for more personal relationships with donors. These are just some of the many advantages that I see in our coming together. When it comes to disaster relief, CRF and Bread have already been working together for years whether it is a famine in Kenya or an earthquake in Haiti. I can’t help but think these areas will be greatly benefited too.

With the extensive re-branding that CRF has completed and because of its size, the board of Bread thought that it was a good idea to use the name Christian Relief Fund for our future together. And Bobby volunteered to be Vice President of Global Operations. This will put him into a place where he can travel and manage the works on the field according to his desire and giftedness rather than having to prioritize administration. We will have two offices — one in Amarillo and one in Richland Hills.

Please pray for this union. Certainly, there will be challenges. But I think all of these changes will ultimately be good in helping the least of these. I hope you are as excited as we are!

It seems to us that bigger is better when we think of extending the exposure to more Christians about sharing and supporting the double blessing of Bread. We have loved the work of Bread For A Hungry World since it’s inception and all through its growth. It is exciting that God is opening a door to enable us to join hands with Christian Relief Fund. With our Amarillo roots, we know and admire the good history of CRF. And Milton Jones, the president, is a friend whom we esteem and appreciate very much. We have deep desires to feed and nurture as many children as God allows us opportunity. CRF and Bread are so similar that to us it seems like a “no brainer” to get together. We love the word MULTIPLY! Dollars and Christ’s love will surely be multiplied by pooling our resources. We are so happy that our hopes, dreams and efforts can grow and grow. The prospects are thrilling!

- Jon Jones, Former Bread President

A letter from Bobby -CRF VP of Global Operations

What an exciting time in the history of two great non-profits, and what an even more exciting future.

I am so happy to join the team at CRF in a role that allows me to focus even more on my passion to help empower families in Latin America and Asia. I look forward to learning all about the areas where CRF operates and helping to maximize those areas to break the cycle of poverty!

Mother Teresa said “do for one what you want to do for thousands” and with over 6000 children sponsored worldwide our sponsors are helping accomplish that goal!

Bread and CRF have partnered for several years on special projects. As we continued to look at our models, we saw we were duplicating effort in many areas. This alliance will allow us to focus more energy and resources in specific areas instead of working in silos. We will help more people by working together.

As for me personally, I have been with Bread for a Hungry World for nearly 5 years. When I was a young Jr. High minister, I told Jon Jones, the director of Bread at the time, that whenever he retired I wanted his job. Nearly ten years later, I was asked to fill that role. In those 10 years a lot happened to prepared me for the role of president of Bread.

My wife, Jennifer, of 20 years is my champion and supports me in the love I have to help change the world. I love when she can go with me and use her nursing skills. Jenn and I met at Harding University. I’m not sure how she has done it, but she still looks like she is in college. And I keep aging at twice the normal speed.

We have four kids, Easton (17), Kayden (13), Hudson (7), and Maddyn Grace (5). They have traveled with me to many different countries and are passionate about helping children. We are all so excited to join the CRF family and consider you all our family.

I look forward to the opportunity to serve with you and your family. Maybe you can join us on a mission trip! Thanks for your love and support for CRF.